HANOVER PARK, Ill. January 2003 – Indianapolis, Ind.-based Hilltop Press has completed another phase of the company’s expansion with the installation of Fujifilm’s Saber Luxel P-9600 CTP platesetter in September 2002. "In July 2001, we moved into a new facility that has about 140,000 square feet," says Julie Turner, vice president of production, prepress. "The new facility houses our corporate offices, prepress, pressroom and binding departments." She adds that the company’s technical expansion was just as important as the physical one and that the Saber was the technological advance that the company needed. "It has more than doubled our previous plate production," Turner explains. "That was not one of our primary concerns, but it has been a big benefit." The pressroom has also seen an increase in productivity and efficiency. "The pressroom has benefited greatly from quicker makereadies and cleaner plates with no hotspots," says Turner. The company is now 90 percent CTP on new jobs, she notes, adding that Hilltop Press is a commercial printer specializing in medium runs with a niche for printing on plastic. "We have a UV press that allows us to print on synthetic stock, like for point-of-purchase items that you would see on display in a store," she explains. "We see that as a large growth point. We felt that we had to go CTP to stay competitive in the market." Turner says the staff made a smooth transition to CTP. "The transition was much quicker than I thought it would be," she says. "We were plating real jobs within a week of installation." Hilltop Press was incorporated in 1970 by Lloyd Hannan, who originally started the business in his garage. The company currently has about 90 employees and is run by Lloyd’s son, James. The company is one of the area’s top commercial printers, Turner notes. Along with the Saber, Hilltop Press also has a Fujifilm Celsis 6250 drum scanner and the Fujifilm ColorArt Proofing System. Headquartered in Hanover Park, Ill., the Graphic Systems Division of Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. offers a full array of high-quality products and services including: Saber, the world’s fastest platesetter in its class; Dart and the Javelin Series, cost-effective thermal platesetters; Sumo, the world’s fastest imagesetter; the Brillia line of thermal and visible light digital plates; FINALPROOF, a digital halftone dot contract proofing product; PictroProof, a dye-based digital color proofing system; and Quattro, the award-winning flatbed color scanner with ColourKit color management software. Fujifilm’s line of color electronics equipment includes a complete range of imagesetters, RIPs, flatbed scanners and computer-to-plate systems. In addition, Fujifilm has a full line-up of film products and aqueous-based conventional subtractive plates.